Just in Case
IllustrationStory★★★★IN THE movie Lily of the Fields, starring Sidney Portier, there was a businessman in town who was an atheist. He didn’t believe in God. However, one day, when the town was coming together to build a new chapel for the nuns, he got involved, working on the chapel.
Sidney Portier asked the guy, “I thought you were an atheist.” The businessman replied, “Yes. I am.” “But I don’t understand.
You’re up here building a house for God.” “Yes. I am.” “Why would you do that if you are an atheist?”
“Just in case.” That’s what we do. We keep other gods in our back pocket just in case God doesn’t work out; we keep idols tucked away. We hang on to certain people, places, or things, just to cover our backs in the event that God doesn’t work out.
In the Bible, God was never satisfied with partial commitment. When His people sought to follow Him and hold on to the gods of their culture, He insisted on complete commitment and dependence on Him as the one and only true God.
The point
An atheist helps build a chapel 'just in case,' exposing how people hedge their bets spiritually by keeping backup gods and idols instead of full commitment to God.